Transfer Deadline Day Drama

William Gallas: After moaning about a transfer for several months, Chelsea’s talented centre-back was offloaded to Arsenal on September 1^st, 2006, in a blockbuster deal that saw Ashley Cole coming the other way. While neither player left their respective clubs on good terms, Chelsea fired one last parting shot, revealing that the Frenchman threatened to deliberately score an own goal if he was not allowed to leave. At the time it sounded like a far-fetched statement, but Gallas’s petulant behaviour since then has shown us that anything is possible.

Dimitar Berbatov: Not that Spurs fans didn’t see this one coming. Manchester United had been circling like sharks all summer, while Tottenham futilely tried to hold onto their star Bulgarian. No surprise that Sir Alex Ferguson finally got his man – on September 1st, 2008. And because the deal was completed so close to the deadline, Spurs were left with no time to find a suitable replacement up front. The only consolation for Spurs is that Berbs has been pants ever since.

Andrei Arshavin: The Russian’s deadline-day transfer from Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal in January 2009 contained all the intrigue of a Cold War spy novel. After a stellar performance at Euro 2008, Arshavin was all that Wenger could think about – and vice versa. Arshavin spent the final days of the winter transfer period holed up in hotel outside London, desperate for Zenit to accept Arsenal’s bid. Despite the FA extending the deadline because of bad weather, the deal went through with only an hour to spare – and only after Arshavin agreed to make a £2.25 million payment to his old Russian club to force the move through.

Shhh, don't let Zenit know I'm here

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